


a moment of your time

by cinderfell



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Percy overworks himself, Post-Chroma Conclave, Vex looks out for him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 04:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8876809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderfell/pseuds/cinderfell
Summary: For all his cleverness, Percy's prone to losing track of time. Sometimes Vex has to intervene.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this now has a companion piece called ["give me shelter (or show me heart)"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9270668), which is a much more hurt/comfort-focused fic about percy taking care of vex. this is the other half of that, with more of a focus on domestic fluff. it's not necessary to read that one too, but they do technically go together!

When Percy kisses her on the forehead and untangles himself from her arms before telling her that he’s going to be doing some work, she’s a little bit upset at the loss of her only source of warmth. Mornings are cold in Whitestone and, even after nearly a year of living in the city, Vex is not built for cold. So she whines and holds onto him, earning the sweetest laugh from her Percival as he leans down and kisses her lips this time. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”

She does not, in fact, see him at breakfast. Vex can’t really say she’s surprised. Percy always tries to keep his word to her, true, but he’s also prone to losing track of time while working. She forgives him for it even as she sits at the table eating with Cassandra. They both shrug when he never shows, both of them used to it by now.

She practices her archery and runs drills with Trinket in the courtyard all afternoon. Sometimes Vex worries that she’s going to lose her edge now that she’s living comfortably in Whitestone, so she tries her best to shoot at least every other day. Sometimes Cassandra or Percy come out with her and practice; Cass is quick and makes a good sparring partner when she wants to work on her reflexes, while her sparring matches with Percy always seem to end with them laughing too much to focus. Not today, though. Today it’s just her and Trinket. Percy remains busy and Cass excuses herself after breakfast to do some paperwork. Vex doesn’t really mind. As much as she enjoys practicing with the siblings, there’s something very calming and familiar about it just being her and Trinket.

She spends the rest of her day curled up in the library. The de Rolo family has quite an extensive collection and she fully intends on making a dent in it eventually, even if it takes her several years (the fact that she’ll probably be here long enough to do that makes her feel lightheaded if she thinks about it too long; she’s still not used to belonging anywhere). She picks up the novel she’d left off on a couple days prior—an embarrassingly melodramatic romance that makes her wonder which de Rolo added it to the library in the first place—and finishes it just as the sun begins to set over the city, golden light spilling in through the windows of the library.

It’s an easy day in Whitestone. A good day.

So maybe that’s why she’s surprised when she shows up at dinner and it’s just Cassandra.

“Is Percy coming?” Cass asks, already starting in on her own food as Vex slowly takes a seat.

“I was just about to ask you the same question,” Vex replies with a frown. “Have you seen him today?”

“No,” the younger woman admits, now tapping her fork against the edge of her plate lightly. “Have you?”

“No. Do you think he got caught up in his work?” Vex eyes her food as she speaks. Whitestone isn’t exactly known for its cuisine, true, but she has a fairly decent hot meal prepared for her every night. There were times where her and Vax couldn’t even eat some nights before they met Vox Machina, both of them working odd jobs for a few bronze. She’d take some slightly-bland but filling food over that on any day.

Cassandra laughs, pulling Vex’s eyes back up to her. It’s always nice hearing her laugh. She’s started doing a lot more, now that Percy and Vex are helping her and there isn’t a threat of dragons anymore. Vex finds it’s easy to forget how young Cassandra is when she’s always so buttoned-up and proper all the time; with others here to share the burden, it’s like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She’s still serious, of course, but it feels more like Vex is talking to a nineteen year old girl rather than somebody her own age. It’s nice. Cassandra was forced to grow up so quickly, it’s only right that she gets to reclaim even a little bit of her youth. “Oh, I’m sure he hasn’t even left his workshop once.”

Vex’s frown deepens. Cass is probably right. Knowing Percy, he’d probably work well into the night before even considering leaving.

With a sigh, she begins devouring her own food quite a bit faster than what’s probably good for her. Cass watches her with a raised eyebrow, leisurely picking at her own food. After watching Vex quietly for a couple minutes she speaks, her voice vibrating with a barely-contained laugh. “Are you in a rush, Vex’ahlia?”

Vex politely covers her mouth and swallows before replying. “I’m going to pull Percival out of his hidey-hole so he can actually eat something today.”

Cassandra’s smile softens. “Good. He needs to be told off for neglecting himself more often.”

She finishes her plate before Cassandra is even a quarter of the way through hers, saying goodbye before leaving in the direction of the workshop. After a second thought, she rushes back around to the kitchen and hurriedly gets a large mug (usually used for ale) before filling it nearly to the brim with coffee.

When she raps on the door to the workshop, mug in hand, there’s a pause before a tired voice calls out, “Yes?”

She pushes the door open, sticking her head into the dimly lit space. “Hi, Percy.”

He sits at his workbench, very ragged looking after hours of non-stop work. Behind his glasses, his blue eyes light up when they recognize her. A smile spreads across his face as she draws closer. “Vex’ahlia!”

“You missed dinner,” she chides, stepping up right next to where he sits.

The smile slides off of his face at that, replaced by a worried frown. “Did I?”

“Yes. Cass and I thought you may have accidentally locked yourself in here.” She raises the mug in her hand. “I brought you coffee.”

“You didn’t need to bring me anything, dear,” he says, although the way he eyes the coffee in her hand tells her everything she needs to know.

She simply rolls her eyes in response, setting the mug down on his table. He picks it up almost as soon she lets go of it, eagerly bringing it to his lips. Vex smiles, putting her hands on his shoulders and moving behind him. After a long moment, Percy puts the coffee back down on the table with a satisfied sigh, picking his tools up again.

Vex moves her hands across his shoulders and loops her arms around his neck, leaning forward to rest her chin on the top of his head. She presses against his back, thumb idly tracing patterns against his collarbone. He shivers but resumes his work nonetheless.

The thing on his table is definitely an arrow. The black powder carefully stored off to the side of the table tells her it’s most likely of the exploding kind, although to be fair it was hard to move even an inch in the workshop without coming across some trace of it. Percy is remarkably careful with the stuff (Victor serves as a cautionary tale, if nothing else) but even then, the powder seems to cling to everything it comes in contact with. There’s a reason he keeps his coat folded up nice and neat over by the door, far out of reach of it.

This arrow in particular is not the only one on the table, although it’s definitely the best looking one. The others are… well, they’re rather sad looking, Vex has to admit. She loves Percy’s craftsmanship but even he’s not immune to some failures from time to time. That said, the arrow Percy’s tinkering with looks absolutely wonderful so far, if not a little heavy at the tip, although she’s sure he already knows.

After watching him fiddle with the arrow for a couple minutes in silence, she lets out a low hum. “Is this for me?”

With her chin resting on the top of his head she can’t see his face, but she knows he rolls his eyes at her. “No, it’s for my _other_ favorite archer.”

“Ooh, I know her,” Vex says, shifting so she reach up and pinch Percy’s cheek. He lets out a startled laugh as she does so. “I hear she’s beautiful and an incredible marksmen.”

“I can confirm that.” She knows he’s smiling. She can hear it in his voice. “She’s very charming too.”

She presses a kiss to his hair and feels him relax back into her with a sigh. The hand that she used to pinch his cheek turns so it can gently scratch through his stubble with her nails. He practically purrs at the feeling, pressing his cheek into her hand. She laughs, reminded of the way Trinket pushes up into her hand when she gives him scratches behind his ears. “You know, I also hear there’s a very talented tinkerer that makes her lovely things. I hear she loves him very much.”  


Percy lets out a low noise of approval. “It’s just a rumor I heard, but I hear he loves her just as much.”

She presses a kiss to his cheek in response. After a moment he seems to settle back into his work comfortably while she leans against him, watching him. She rests her chin on his shoulder, taking in the way his hands work steadily with the arrow. She loves watching him work. She loves watching him figure out how things need to move, how things need to fit together. It’s like watching somebody put together a puzzle.

She runs her hands up and down his arms and he sighs contentedly against her touch. When she presses a kiss to his neck, he closes his eyes and she feels a smile spread across her face. He lets out a breathy chuckle as she leaves a trail of kisses up his neck. Percy’s voice is lower than she expects when he speaks, making her smile widen. “Vex’ahlia.”

“Yes, darling?” she replies innocently, fluttering her eyelashes against his cheek.

He shivers.

“You’re being very distracting right now.”

She turns her head and kisses his cheek. “I try my best.”

“It’s hard to get anything done when you’re doing… this.” He gestures up at her and she laughs.

“Then why don’t you put the arrow away for now and take a little break with me?” He shifts in his seat as she speaks and she can see the cogs spinning in his head as he debates whether to say yes or not. “We can take a walk through the woods. Or the city. Or we can just take a stroll through the castle if you don’t feel like straying too far.”

To sweeten the deal, she brushes her lips against his cheek again and she feels him melt back against her. “I like that.”

Vex lets out a short laugh. “I knew you would.”

“The arrow will still be here tomorrow,” he says, more as a reassurance to himself than to her.

“It will be,” she affirms. Suddenly remembering dinner, she adds, “You need to promise that you’ll eat something with me too. You missed breakfast _and_ dinner.”

He chuckles, getting to his feet and detangling himself from her arms. “Yes, dear.”

With that, he sets about cleaning up after himself. Vex leans back against his table, her arms crossed over her chest as she watches him move across the room. Percy flutters about from corner to corner putting his tools away (for all his chaos, he had a certain sense of order) before he carefully wipes his hands down with a cloth, checking over his clothes and brushing off any remnants of black powder.

He turns around to face her again, walking forward and holding his arms out so she can get a good look at all of him. “Did I get everything?”

She laughs, pushing off the table so she can walk over and take the cloth from him. “You missed a spot, darling.”

Vex reaches up to clean the dark smudge across his forehead and he smiles. It’s surely from him reaching up to wipe at his brow while working, a thought that sends a wave of fondness coursing through her. “What would I do without you?”

“Walk around looking like you just took a bath in your powder, I imagine.” She reaches back to set the cloth on the table next to her before tilting her head to the side to look him over. He’s still a little scruffy looking—although, to be fair, he always looks a little scruffy and she’s quite fond of the entire look anyways—but he at least looks fairly clean considering he spent hours locked away in his workshop tinkering.

“Thank you for checking on me,” he says, and his eyes are impossibly soft as he looks down at her. Percy spares another glance down at his hands to check that he cleaned them properly before he reaches up and cups her face. “I’m a very lucky man to have somebody like you looking out for me.”

Vex folds her hands around his, thumbs running back and forth across his knuckles. “Well, I expect you to continue returning the favor.”

“Always,” he murmurs before closing the distance between them. His lips are slightly chapped but she finds she doesn’t care all that much, getting up onto her tiptoes so she can push herself into the kiss even more. A chuckle escapes his mouth as she tries to press closer to him, humoring her and letting himself be pulled down when she tugs on the collar of his shirt.

After a couple of moments he draws away from her, Vex making a soft noise of protest as he does. “What happened to our walk?”

She swats at his shoulder playfully. “I was getting to it. Not my fault that you’re distracting.”

A wry smile creeps across his lips. “I try my best.”

Vex gives him another swat on the shoulder and he laughs.

Their hands fall from her face and she lets go of one of them; with the other she twines her fingers through his and holds on tightly. He takes a couple of steps towards the door with Vex in tow, picking his jacket up from where it’s folded neatly. “It’s rather cold out. Do you want my coat?”

She hums. “Ever the gentleman, Percival.”

He shakes her hand from his and holds the coat out for her. Smiling up at him, she slips into it and adjusts the worn blue fabric that now swallows her up. It’s much too big for her even when she pulls it tight, but it’s warm and familiar and it smells like him so she can’t complain.

Freeing her braid from the coat and flicking it over her shoulder, Vex holds out her arm for him. Percy takes it with a gentle smile, hand settling in the crook of her arm. They step out of the workshop and shut the door behind them, Vex giggling as he blinks rapidly and tries to adjust to the sudden shift in light. Even with night creeping over Whitestone, the castle is still much brighter than the dim light of his workshop. “So, where to Percy?”

He stops to think, mulling over all the places they could go before finally giving a small shrug. His blue eyes glimmer behind his spectacles as he looks at her, and Vex feels something warm and fond blossom in her chest. “Anywhere is fine as long as it’s with you, dear.”  



End file.
